The
Sedro-Woolley School District applied for and was the recipient of a $30,000
grant from Washington STEM to create a plan to establish a STEM Network in
Sedro-Woolley. This STEM Network will be the first of its kind north of
Snohomish County and will create a niche the community can call its own. The
initial planning partners and community based organization partners include the
City of Sedro-Woolley, Sedro-Woolley School District, Port of Skagit, EDASC
(Economic Development Association of Skagit County), Skagit Valley College and
Janicki Industries.

Sedro-Woolley has been a leader in world-changing technology for
more than a century. With global companies such as the Skagit Corporation,
Snelson, and Janicki Industries, Sedro-Woolley is home to the world’s leaders
in composites and other innovations. And thanks to Janicki Bioenergy’s Omni
Processor, Sedro-Woolley is also on the leading edge of sanitation technology. The
STEM Network planning process coincides with the redevelopment of the Northern
State campus as a Center for Innovation and Technology in the Pacific
Northwest. With Janicki Bioenergy expected to be the Center’s first tenant, it
is anticipated that more than 1,000 STEM jobs could be located at the Center
within the next five years!

The Skagit STEM Network (formerly known as the Sedro-Woolley STEM Network) also aligns with the move to the Next Generation Science Standards that were formally adopted by Washington State in 2013. Evergreen Elementary will also become the first district STEM Lab School starting with the 2016-2017 school year. STEM instruction supports innovative thinking and allows students to explore greater depths of all subjects and Evergreen will continue to have a strong emphasis on teaching reading and writing, social studies, PE and the arts.